Julia+Hartman+How+does+students'...


 * How does students’ language development affect their learning?**

Obviously, if a student does not understand the language of instruction, the student cannot learn. I used to feel like this should go without saying, but I realized this semester that it cannot. There are so many nuances to language. The act of communicating with other human beings is incredibly complex. It involves multiple processes and many, many assumptions. It seems that the standard model of teaching is to continue to hand the students the same material over and over, //in the same form,// and to hope that, this time, the students will get it.

That is not going to happen. We have to make students aware of language. We have to make students aware of multiple languages. We have to make students aware of their ability to speak in multiple languages, to learn in multiple languages and to teach in multiple languages. Yes, they do teach. At the very least, they teach me.

My students and I come from very different places. For the most part, thankfully, we have a common language, English. Many of my students, however, are bi- and trilingual. They speak Spanish; they speak Black English. They speak hybrids and they speak slang. I speak multiple Englishes as well; everyone does. Unfortunately, my students’ Englishes and mine do not always overlap.

In the classroom, I have a disproportional amount of power. I get to decide which English will be used. In fact, I get to decided that English will be used (New York State, the federal government and my administration have some say, but I still think teachers have an amazing amount of power in their own classrooms; teachers can get away with a lot). I have decided that English will be used. Furthermore, I have decided that Standard English will be used. I subscribe to the language of power.

Standard English is a tool my students need. I will teach it.

That said, my students learn in languages other than English. What I have determined is that my students will learn most effectively if they are aware of other languages. They need to know that their Spanish language use is important; they need to know that they are fluent in many Englishes.

Unfortunately, my students, and from what I have read, many other students as well, have internalized the ideas of those in power. Not only do those in power get to determine what Standard English is, but they also get to determine how we feel about other languages and Englishes. My students do not value Black English or Spanish or any hybrid as educational tools. This is ridiculous. Only one period a day do students at my school take English class. They can learn content in any language. Why do they judge their other languages so harshly?

This question should read, “How does the development of students’ //languages// affect their learning?” It is not just the languages that affect learning, although they do, because of students’ comprehension, students’ disconnect and students being able to effectively communicate with me and each other. Students’ opinions and students’ biases against others and themselves affect learning. Many of my students think they are not intelligent because they do not use Standard English. How can they get past that when all of their twelve years of education, all of their teachers, have supported that assumption? What can I do with them their senior year of high school? I can read __Hamlet__. They can understand it. And what an amazing process that is.